13% OF BLACK MEN CAN'T VOTE, STUDY FINDS

Rights group criticizes laws disfranchising ex-offenders

WASHINGTON -- About 1.4 million African-American men, 13 percent of the
nation's black adult male population, have lost the right to vote -- some
permanently -- because of criminal records, a study by Human Rights Watch
has found.

The international organization, which monitors civil and human rights issues
around the world, found that overall 3.9 million Americans can't vote
because they have been convicted of a crime.

Felons are prohibited from voting while in prison in 46 states, and 31
states, including California, disfranchise offenders while they are on
probation or parole. Only four states -- Maine, Massachusetts, Utah and
Vermont -- do not bar prison inmates from voting.

But Human Rights Watch found a wide disparity in state laws on ex-offenders.
A convicted thief in most states automatically regains the right to vote
after release from prison, but 14 states bar ex-offenders from voting, even
years after they have completed their sentences. In Arizona and Maryland,
someone with two felonies can't vote. In Texas, voting rights are restored
two years after a sentence ends.

The percentage of black men disfranchised from the system is seven times the
national average and reflects an increasing disparity in the number of
African-Americans who are incarcerated, according to the study.

With the widespread application of mandatory minimum sentences, ``three
strikes, you're out'' laws and other measures designed to ensure stiff
prison sentences for criminal offenders, the proportion of black men under
incarceration has increased 10 times as fast as for white men over the past
decade, the study said. If current trends continue, the study estimated, 40
percent of black males born in the 1990s will lose the right to vote at some
time during their lives.

``The proportions in some black communities are so large now that we've
reached the point where this is an issue that can potentially affect some
elections,'' said Marc Mauer, co-author of the report and assistant director
of the Sentencing Project, a research group that opposes many mandatory
sentences.

``It's a basic question of democratic rights and societal inclusion,'' Mauer
said. ``Given our low rate of voter participation, we should be looking for
ways to encourage people to vote, not locking them out.''

According to the study, the United States ``may have the world's most
restrictive disenfranchisement laws.'' A few democracies, such as Finland
and New Zealand, restrict ex-offenders' voting for several years after a
sentence is completed, but only U.S. state laws bar voting for life.

``Ex-offenders have paid their debt to society,'' said co-author Jamie
Fellner, associate counsel of Human Rights Watch. ``It makes no sense to
turn them into political outcasts.''

Mercury News wire services contributed to this report.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst